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Warm and wholesome
CROSS CULTURAL ANGST: Meena (Chandeep Uppal) confronts Anita (Anna Brewster)
Anita and Me (ENGLISH)
Cast: Chandeep Uppal, Ayesha Dharker, Zohra Sehgal
Dir: Metin Huseyin
HERE IS yet another coming of age Hinglish film, which is super endearing for its look and feel. Set in the swinging Seventies - a time of platform heels, mini skirts, floral prints, polka dots, rexine jackets and Enfield bikes - in the village of Tollington, better known as the jewel of Black country, the story follows Meena, a 12 year-old caught between two cultures.
Born to Punjabi parents, who have moved to England to give Meena a better life, Meena's life changes when she meets 14-year-old Anita who is blonde, cool and everything Meena wants to be. Meena's parents want her to get good grades so she can go to a good school. They would like her to study the sciences though Meena wants to study English. As her mother explains, "all Indians are good in English which is good enough for a hobby."
The friendship between the two girls goes through the usual highs and lows getting particularly strained during an instance of "Paki bashing" initiated by Anita's boyfriend. Meena's two ambitions - to get her story published in the girls' magazine, Jackie, and be a part of the Anita led group, The Wenches, are fulfilled, but at some personal cost.
The movie is based on Meera Syal's award winning book of the same name. Syal who has also written the screenplay and plays Meena's know it all auntie ("she speaks Punjabi with a Birmingham accent,") has made some acute observations about religion, race, society, the sexes and growing up. These observations are served up with liberal doses of humour, making them easily digestible. Syal, who grew up in Essington, a mining village in the Midlands of England, has drawn on her experiences.
The music is wonderfully diverse and the sound track is worth having. The cast have done a competent job from Chandeep Uppal and Anna Brewster who make their feature film debuts as Meena and Anita, to seasoned performers like Ayesha Dharker who plays Meena's mum and the indomitable Zohra Sehgal as Meena's feisty nanima.
The film is funny, sweet, sad, and glows with the uncorrupted wisdom of a child. The only problem with the film is the accent, which is a broad cockney. Almost makes one wish for sub titles like the American release of Trainspotting! Love and laughter, however, do not have boundaries and it is easy to get into the groove of the cadences and rhythm of growing up.
MINI ANTHIKAD-CHHIBBER
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